If on Jupiter, hydrocarbon beings existed, would we able to speak with
them and they with us? Aristotle says that only humans can speak and the
speech capability is the only criterion of humanity. Speech is also
designated by Aristotle “to indicate the advantageous and the harmful,
and therefore the right and the wrong … and other moral qualities.” He
finishes by saying that “it is partnership in these things that makes … a
polis.” Ultimately, according to Aristotle, a human being who is not in a
polis is not really a human being at all. Would this human being then be
no more human than a bronze or marble statue with a human being
form?